PermaCity|

EDITOR

Jurgen Rosemann

TU DelftUniversity of Technology

C h a n g e s

PermaCity|<2 Dis c u s s in g t h e c h a n c es in s o c ie t yCdLUY~ AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS, THE ROLECl .

X OF MODERNITY AND THE EFFECTS ONU

URBAN PLANNING

© P erm aC ity

EDITOR:

Jurgen Rosemann

SCIENTIFIC CO M ITTE:

Prof. Henco Bekkering (D e lft U n ive rs ity of Technology)

Chairman

Prof. Han M eyer (D e lft U n ivers ity o f Technology)

Prof. Jurgen Rosemann (D e lft U n ivers ity o f Technology)

Prof. M aurizio M arcelloni (U n ivers ita La Sapienza di Roma)

Prof. Joaquin Sabate Bel (U n iv e rs ita t Politecnica de Catalunya)

Prof. A lexander Tzonis (Tsinghua U n ivers ity , Beijing)

PERMACITY RESEARCH TEAM:

Msc. Andrea Peresthu

C o o r d i n a to r E uropean M a s t e r on U rb a n is m , f a c u l t ' o f A r c h i t e c tu r e .

D e l f t U n i v e r s i t y o f T e c h n o lo g y

Dr. Diego Sepulveda

C o o r d i n a to r i n t e r n a t i o n a l p r o je c t s Urbanism Lab,

D e p a r tm e n t Urbanism, F a c u l ty o f A r c h i te c tu r e .D e l f t U n i v e r s i t y o f T e c h n o lo g y

DESIGNED BY:°

( / • f e r e . c f / y c n / m ^ . < /

Carolina V ignola

ENGLISH ED IT IO N :

Gerhard Bryuns

Hannes G utb erle t

ISBN 9 7 8 -9 0 -7 8 6 5 8 -0 5 -4

Printed in Barcelona, Novem ber 200 7 .08

HA

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"E co lo g ica l U n i t ” and Uhban and R u ra l Spa tia l Form in China

T ro p ica l Lewis M u m fo rd ; th l f ir s t c r i t ic a l re g io n a lis t u rban p ia n ne r

C o n n e c t in g c itie s th r o u g h su s ta in a b le m o b i l i t y a n d u rb a n d e v e lo p m e n t

/Mo del s o f Ur ban St r uc t ur e r ev ised: St at ic ver sus t he dynam ic-eco log ica l f r amew o r k s

Perm aC ity, a Cit y or A d apt ive Com plex N e tw o rks

N et w o r k U rbanism in L ig h t o r T echno logy D rive n S o c ie ta l Trends

Compactness and M o b il i t ) ' o r the Beij ing M et r o po l it an A re a : seeking a sus ia inable u rban fo rm

The E ffe c t o f W a te r Form Of Q anats in S e ttle m e n t Pat t er n

Sustainable C u l tu ra l and M o rp h o lo g ic a l L a y e r in c :L e a rn in g f r o m S o u th e a s t A s ia n Co a s t a l P e r m a -C i t ie s

Ur ban ra n k in g : c re a tiv ity , u rban ren e w a l and th e search fo r the Per maCit y

On po r o s it v

H eal ing t h e C ity - T houghts o n U rb a n Per m-c u l t u r e Design

C o n fig u ra tio n s and U rb a n S u s ta in a b ility

pER M A O rr.A Chal l eng e o r P la n n in g f o r Happiness

Ch a n g in g Cent r al it ies- Spat ial c on d ition s to r s u st a in abl e u r ban places

Perm anent a rch ite c to n ic s tru c tu re s and GIS

Us ing Po w er a n d Sc al ing t o Pur sue E n v iro n m e n ta l S u s ta in a b ility

The C h a lle n g e o f G o v e r n in g th e N e w Sc al e o f th e C o n te m p o ra ry Cit y

P ub lic space policies and c om m un ity s ign ificance

HOW DO WE BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND LOCAL PLACES IN A GLOBAL WORLD?

D ealing w ith emergence as w ay or u rban in t er ven t io n

N e w oppo rtu n ities f o r open u rban systems

Sustainable U r ban Fu t u r e in Lat in -A mer ic an M idd le -s ized C ities

U r ban r eg ener at io n ; t o be o r n o t to be

P erm aC ity: o n dispersion and dens ifica tion

Susta inable Cit ies

S h a n g ri- la o f M in d

Sustainable Liv in g in Par ad is e?

The Case o r G rea ter Jaka rta

The Role o f So c ia l Capit al in t he A ppr o pr ia t io n or Spac e t o r t he In f o r ma l Ec o n o my

"K aw po n g ” as a g ener at o r to develop a sustainable c ity

09 WU LIANCYONC 91 ra

10 LIANE LEFAIVRE/ALEXANDER TZONIS 97 ^

11 FRANK VAN DER HOEVEN 10 5

12 GERHARD BRUYNS 1 0 9

13 REMON ROOIJ 119

14 JEROEN VAN SCHAIK 123

15 QU LEI 129

16 MOHAMMAD REZA PARVISI 135

17 JOHANNES WIDODO 141

18 JOAQUIN SABATE / MANUEL TIRONI 151 -o

19 PAOLA VIGANO 163 #

20 DECLAN KENNEDY / KATHLEEN BATTKE 173

21 AKKELIES VAN NES 183

22 CHE-SHENG CHIANG 191

23 QIANG SHENG 197

24 STEFFEN NIJHUIS 2 0 3

25 SASKIA SASSEN 213 #

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26 MAURIZIO MARCELLONI 223

27 MIQUEL MARTI CASANOVAS 22 9

28 STEPHEN READ 235

29 CAMILO PINILLA 2 4 1

30 ROBERTO ROCCO 2 4 9

31 DIEGO SEPULVEDA 253

33 PAUL STOUTEN 261

34 BERNARDO SECCHI 2 6 9 “O

35 MARCIAL ECHENIQUE 275 "o

36 CHIU YUAN WANG 28 7

37 PETER JOHANNES GORGL / MARKUS VOGL 29 5

38 JO SANTOSO 3 0 1

32 DEVISARI TUNAS 3 0 7

39 SANDI A. SIREGAR 313

OOc rQJr-EO

o o JURGEN ROSEMANN

PROFESSOR CHAIR URBAN RENEWAL AND MANAGMENT

DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

PermaCityWhen almost 30 years ago Bill Mollison and David Holmgren introduced the idea o f P erm acu ltu re , they in itia lly pointed at the development o f a

stable agriculture, based on the principles o f sustainable ecological systems.1 * However, very soon the idea expanded into a more general approach

for the design o f human habitat and community building. In the meantime P erm acu ltu re has elaborated into a complex design system, carefully observing

the nature and natural systems, analyzing the ecological principles o f sustainability w ith in these systems and applying them to the design o f human

settlements and human societal systems.

P erm acu ltu re has become a worldwide movement. All over the world ecological settlements have been developed, either as new buildings/construction or

as renewal projects o f existing settlements, where people live together in conformance w ith the principles o f P erm acu ltu re . In these settlements, people

not only apply sustainable environmental technologies to reduce the exploitation o f natural resources and to lim it pollution, they also try to develop

sustainable communities and sustainable economies capable o f surviving w ithout the exploitation o f other societies or future generations. The idea is to

create productive and sustainable ways o f living which are based on the principles o f global equity, which states that every human being has the equal

right for clean water, pure air, an adequate amount o f energy as well as the right to stable and sustainable living conditions.

However, contrary to the Permaculture communities the realities of present urban

societies are not characterized by a common sense of values and behavior, but by

contradictory interests, conflicting behavior patterns and different ideological

orientations. In place of global equity we find growing segregation and competi

tion on all levels of spatial organization: between different districts within the

city, between the core city and its suburbs, between urbanized and rural areas as

well as between different agglomerations, countries and continents. Competi

tion exists throughout the exploitation of natural resources and the abatement

of production costs on the one hand. It appears, however, also in regard to

services, living conditions, technical and social infrastructure on the other.

In comparison to these large scale developments the small community approach

of the Permaculture movement appears almost irrelevant and sometimes even

ridiculous. However, modern societies are taking exceptions to their limits on

an almost daily basis. When, in 1986, Ulrich Beck presented the idea of a risk

society3, he not only warned against the destruction of the environment and

the exploitation of natural resources, but also emphasized the dependency of

a world society that is mutually connected by global risks which no longer can

be shifted onto nature, other continents or onto future generations. The world

society as a whole has to face the risks and must conquer them. Otherwise it

will not survive. For its survival - in the words of Beck - a reflexive modernization

is necessary, i.e. a self-transformation of the modern society that continuously

reflects its own conditions.3 The question remains to what extent the urbanized

2 Ulrich Beck (1986), Risikogesellschaft, Frankfurt/Main.

3 Ulrich Beck (1993), Die Erfindung des Politischen, Frankfurt/Main.

1 Bill Mollison & David Holmgren {1978), Permaculture One, Transworld Publishers (Australia).

u

society will be able to reflexively modernize and transform itself into a sustain

able form of cohabitation that no longer undermines and destroys the condi

tions for its own existence. Or alternatively, will the urbanized world society

become an ephemeral phenomenon that inevitably is heading towards its own

demise? What can we learn in this framework from the community approach

of the Permaculture movement? Is it possible to generate a comparable model of

sustainability also for the urban society, a model of PermaCity?

URBANIZATION

Urbanization is a key issue of our time. Never before has the human society

gone through a comparable process of urbanization, nor have cities expanded as

rapidly as today. On the other hand, urbanization remains a rather new phenom

enon. A first wave of urbanization commenced in Europe and North America

during the 18th century reaching its peak during the i9 ,h and the beginning of

the 20th century. As a result more than 70 % of the population within Europe

and more than 80 % in North America are presently living in urban areas.

Succeeding the first phase of urbanization, a second wave commenced in the

2o'1' century. This wave is still going on and affects mainly developing countries

in Latin America, Asia and Africa. The effects of this wave are much stronger

and much more radical in comparison to those of the first, as the following data

show. The urban population increased worldwide from 220 million, in 1900, to

2,84 billion in 2000.4 It is estimated that 2008 will become a milestone with

an estimated 3,3 billion people - half o f the world population - living in cities.

This tendency will continue as the urban population is expected to reach 4,9

billion by 2030.

Yet, the strongest urbanization is predicted to occur in Asia and Africa where

the urban population is set to double between 2000 and 2030. In contrary

to the assumptions of many people the urban growth in these continents not

primarily arises as a result o f migration, from rural to urban areas, but is brought

forth as a result of decreasing mortality. The increasing population originates

from both the cities and the rural areas. However, the capacity of rural areas is

limited, they cannot accommodate (and feed) the growing number of people.

Thus, migration and the concentration of people in the cities is an inevitable

process, even if the population numbers in rural areas will keep stable on the

global scale.

The most recognized and most sensational results of recent urbanization proc

esses are the new mega-cities (of more than 10 million inhabitants) and even

meta-cities (of more than 20 million inhabitants) that are presently confronting

4 UNFPA (2007), State o f the world population 2007. Unleashing the Potential of urban

Growth, p. 7.

the world with new urban cultures, with increasing social contradictions and

with new and unknown environmental threats. Although these super-agglomera

tions seem to dominate the front pages of the urbanism debate, their impact is

less dominant with only 9 % of the global - urban - population residing in cities

of more than 10 million inhabitants. Of greater importance, from this position,

are the smaller and middle-sized cities (of up to 500.000 inhabitants) respon

sible for the accommodation of more than half of the world’s urban population.

According to the United Nations Population Fund, these cities will become catch

ments regions for the majority of the future population growth.5

According to the United Nations Report a major problem within countries of

rapid urbanization - and something which should be avoided at all costs -seems

to be that planners and decision makers identify urban growth as an ‘evil’

phenomenon. As a consequence, urban strategies at best concentrate on the

present and immediate shortages of shelter. Long term strategies, implemented

to face future growth, remain scarce and underdeveloped. In many cases there

seems to be no strategy at all.6 The Authors of the UN Report blame political

decision makers who neglect and continuously reject the inevitable growth in

developing places, thus cutting short the implementation of a proactive policy

for future development.

As for industrialized countries, and in particular in North America and in Europe,

cities appear to be confronted with an opposite problem. Instead of appearing

to grow cities appear to be losing their population due to an outward spread or

diffuse sprawl.7 In many cases the process of suburbanization is connected with

strong trends of segregation. In particular, higher income groups leave core cit

ies, settling within the more comfortable, better secured and often gated com

munities of the suburbs. The impact of this selective exodus remains disastrous

for the core cities themselves. On the one hand, the departure of higher income

groups has lead to a slump in the demand for facilities, goods and services by

more affluent residents; whilst by contrast, core cities are confronted with a

concentration of social problem groups and rising social costs. In this way, core

cities are losing their ability to fulfill their function as ‘engines’ of the regional

economy.8

In many European regions (and also in Japan) the urban exodus is addition-

5 UNFPA (2007), p. 10.

6 UNFPA (2007), p. 40.

7 This process barely can be described as de-urbanization. The lifestyle, the living

conditions and the conditions of labor in the suburbs still suits more or less w ith that

of the urban population. Due to the transportation and communication facilities, the

division between rural and urban became increasingly artificial in advanced societies.

8 The dependencies between suburbanization, segregation and economical decrease of

metropolitan areas are more detailed elaborated in: David Rusk (1995), Cities without

Suburbs. Second Edition, Baltimore.

12

ally amplified by the fact that the population in general is decreasing within

these regions. Shrinking cities have therefore become an entirely new problem

category, presenting a new challenge for the discipline of urban planning which

has historically developed under the conditions of growth and expansion. There

fore new instruments and new concepts are required to guide the processes of

shrinking in both cities and regions.

POVERTY AND SEGREGATION

Strongly connected with the process of urbanization in developing countries

is the concentration of poverty. The UNFPA Report estimates that on a global

scale 1 billion people reside in slums, of which 90 % is to be found in devel

oping countries.9 China and India collectively have 37 % of the word’s slums.

Worldwide, slum dwellers are confronted with a variety of issues of which

poverty remains but one of their burdens. Other aspects of importance are:

poor and overcrowded shelters in sometimes large areas, teemed with violence

and criminality, the lack of public services and infrastructure, limited accessibil

ity to education, unhealthy environments and insecure land tenure. Moreover,

the increasing risks from environmental hazards disproportionately affect poor

people in vulnerable areas.

Slum dwellers are imprisoned in a double way, based on their housing and work

ing situations. On the one hand, dwellers are limited in their mobility on the

housing market; as they are being forced to stay within the confines of their

slum due to a lack or inaccessibility or unavailability of alternatives. These limi

tations even apply to those situations where the slum dwellers are owners of

their house or plot. Dwellers are unable to escape due to the inability to sell the

property, in particular if their ownership is based on a loan or mortgage.10

On the other hand, slum dwellers are captured in their position on the labor

market. As Manuel Castells brought to light, the socially divided city is primarily

based on a divided labor market. The first labor market relates to the formal

economy, with official jobs in (more or less) secured labor conditions; whilst a

secondary labor market relates to the grey or informal economy, with unsecured

labor conditions and instable income, in many cases also without any social

network or insurance.11 Similar to the housing markets, the labor markets are

characterized by strong mobility limitations, limited in the form of an upward

mobility, implying that slum dwellers barely have a chance to penetrate into the

formal labor market.

9 UNFPA (2007), p. 16.

10 See Ana Sugranyes (2007), Social housing policy in Chile. Actors and products,

Dissertation, TU Delft, in the case study about social housing areas in Santiago di Chile

Sugranyes demonstrates the limited mobility even under the conditions o f (social)

owner occupied housing.

11 See u.m. Manuel Castells (1989), The informational city, Oxford.

We have become accustomed to the idea that urban poverty is mainly regarded

as a problem of fast growing cities in developing countries. However, dual cit

ies can simultaneously be found in developed countries. In many industrialized

countries the distinction between rich and poor has increased during the last

decennia. The reasons for this distinction are based on economical transforma

tions, in particular, the loss of employment in the industrial sector, and the

dismantlement of the welfare state, caused by the attempt to reduce public

expenditures. As a result, the economical segregation within the city and be

tween city and suburbs is on the increase, in many cases additionally amplified

by growing ethnical contradictions. The slogan of the Third World, coming back

to the First, indicates the problems many cities in ‘developed’ countries, are con

fronted with.

ECOLOGICAL THREATS

In view of the evident effects of recent climate changes it seems almost su

perfluous to stress the ecological threats of urban development. The limited

energy resources, greenhouse effects, rising sea levels, floods caused by melting

glaciers and the bareness caused by shifting climate zones are subjects of many

international conferences and numerous debates between scientists and profes

sionals. Technical innovations and solutions to reduce the energy consumption,

to make use of renewable energy resources and to recycle and refresh water and

air are not only available, but also have become more and more affordable from

an economical point of view.

All the more it remains a startling fact that ‘reflexive m odernization’ is barely rec

ognized within architectural and urban design projects within recent years. Only

a few projects have demonstrated integrated ecological design solutions as part

of the design process. As an example, climatic conditions have always had a

strong impact on the design of the built environment. However, the conditions

of globalization and the belief in technical omnipotence tend to support generic

design approaches, regardless of the natural conditions. Disregard of basic rules

of bioclimatic design results in increased energy consumption, caused in warm

climates by the generation of urban heat islands and its growing needs for cool

ing, whereas in cold climates, the disregard results in heat losses and energy

waste.12 Comparable argumentations can be developed for almost all forms of

environmental pollution and for the exploitation of all natural resources. Consid

ering the strong impact of urbanization on the environment a radical re-orienta-

tion of urban planning and design approaches seems to be inevitable.

12 See John Martin Evans (2007), The comfort triangles. A new tool for bioclimatic

design, Dissertation, TU Delft.

13

URBAN COMPETITIVENESS AND FRAGMENTATION

A major effect of globalization is the increasing competition between cities and

regions on national and international level. Modern economies, in particular

the new ICT based service economies, have become almost independent from

natural resources and from natural conditions of a respective site. Within these

new economies an enterprise has become ‘footloose’: it easily can be moved

from one city to another, from one country to the next or even, between con

tinents. New criteria for locating enterprises, in a general sense, have become

'man-made'. Besides socio-economic criteria such as the cost of labor, the avail

ability of qualified workers and present political stability, there remain a number

of criteria directly related to urban planning and design: the integration into

national and international mobility networks, the local accessibility, availability

of qualified infrastructure and facilities, as well as attractive housing areas in

particular for qualified employees and attractive business sites. Last but not

least, the image and the charisma of the city at all play an important role when

companies choose a site for their enterprise. All these characteristics too can be

influenced and improved through design interventions.

To facilitate economic development cities are more-or-less forced to make them

selves attractive for investors and enterprises by investing into infrastructure,

facilities and the development o f attractive sites for new business development.

An important role in this framework is taken by the so-called Large Urban

Projects (LUP) - Grandes Projets - that are often realized through the reconstruc

tion of urban wasteland, former industrial plants, old harbor areas etc., usually

located on central sites in the city and in particular suitable for the development

of new business activities. A general attribute of these projects is that they

are not developed as mono-functional business districts. In most cases Large

Urban Projects combine offices with housing, shopping, restaurants, cultural

facilities and attractive public spaces, in this way generating a new type of

(multifunctional) urbanity. They, too, combine public and private functions, and

thus are often developed as public private partnership (PPP). The Centre Pom

pidou area in Paris, the London Docklands and Battery Park City in New York

have been pioneers of this new type of projects. In the meantime, almost every

self-respecting city in the world developed these kind of projects to promote

city branding and to participate in the growing competition.

Although projects as these play an important role for the economical develop

ment of cities they also have a reverse side-effect in regard to urban sustain

ability. Projects as these demand substantial portions of public means, concen

trated only on a few areas - or islands — within the city, in this way supporting

fragmentation and segregation and in many cases resulting in an unbalanced

over-all development of the city at large. Moreover, the dominance of commer

cial interests brings about that there is hardly any space or means available for

social and/or environmental aims. The majority of the projects is and remains

socially exclusive, while focusing on the solvent demand, and reinforcing the

idea that environmental issues only play a role if they contribute to the image

forming and branding of the site.

THE IDEA OF PERMACITY

At first glance, cities seem to embody all threats of modern civilization: the en

vironmental damage, the concentration of poverty, the fragmentation of space

and society. Is there any alternative, is there any chance for a more sustainable

urban culture? In order to discuss the sustainability of cities we have to clarify

the meaning and the bearing of sustainability itself. In this framework it is

possible to revert to a long debate and thus to a great number of competing,

sometimes contradictory, definitions. Of the most broadly applicable and often

quoted definitions is the one created in 1987 by the Brundtland Commission

regarding sustainable development. Sustainable development (according to the

commission) ... 'meets the needs of the present without compromising the abili

ties of future generations to meet their own needs.’13 This definition not only

refers to the longevity of human support systems, it simultaneously implies

a strong ethical claim that the concept of sustainability is primarily based on

respect for the rights of future generations and is striving for solidarity with

them.

In succession of the Brundtland Report a number of definitions have been devel

oped which attempts to concretize the aims of sustainable development as well

as to render these aims operational for daily practice. Most of them are focusing

on the maintenance of the environment as an ecological system and address the

steps required to halt exploitation and consumption of nature whilst introducing

renewable principles. A well-known and suitable realization of environmental

demands are the rules developed by Herman Daly:14

Renewable resources such as fish, soil, and groundwater must be used not

faster than the rate at which they regenerate.

Nonrenewable resources such as minerals and fossil fuels must be used not

faster than renewable substitutes for them can be put into place.

Pollution and wastes must be emitted no faster than natural systems can

absorb them, recycle them, or render them harmless.

Further elaborations on the criteria for sustainability have led to the development

of a variety of methods set to measure and assess sustainability performances.

13 United Nations (1987), Report o f the World Commission on Environment and

Development. General Assembly Resolution 42/187.

14 Herman Daly (1996), Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development,

Boston.

14

Exemplarily two widely known and used methods should be mentioned: the

Life Cycle Assessment to analyze the environmental performances of products

and services through all phases of their life cycle, and the Ecological Footprint

Analyses, calculating the amount of land area that is needed to match the cur

rent resource consumption and pollution by sustainable and renewable resource

production and waste assimilation.

All the aforementioned definitions and approaches have a common focus: the

concentration on environmental sustainability. Flowever, although the preserva

tion of the environment is an important issue, it does not sufficiently reflect

the conditions of reproduction of an urban society and its dynamic. From this

point o f view, the Permaculture movement has made, already at a very early

stage, an important advance towards a more comprehensive definition of sus

tainability. By placing the idea of a sustainable culture in front, the movement

not only emphasizes the protection of natural resources, but also is integrating

the social, economical and cultural reproduction of the community with all its

dimensions.

In the same way the idea of PermaCity can be seen as an integrated approach

towards urban sustainability, covering all dimensions of the urban society. Envi

ronmental sustainability is a basic requirement of a sustainable city, of the Per

maCity. Without a sustainable environment the urban society cannot survive.

However environmental sustainability in an urban context remains dependant

on a sustainable economy. Without economical sustainability the environment

remains under threat whilst w ithout a sustainable environment the economy

can run the risk of being destroyed (at least in the long run). Economical sustain

ability remains dependant on a sustainable society, on a social sustainability.

Without a sustainable society the economy cannot survive as well as without

a sustainable economy the society cannot survive. Last but not least, cultural

development is a necessary condition of a sustainable society.

The utopia o f PermaCity seems to be far away from the reality of cities in our

time. However, cities also represent the best - and perhaps only - hope to over

come the threats of the modern society. ‘With a world population at 6 ,7 billion

people in 2 0 0 7 and growing at over 75 million a year (...) the protection of rural

ecosystems ultimately requires that population be concentrated in non-primary

sector activities and densely populated areas."5 Further urbanization not only

is inevitable, it also '... offers significant opportunities to reduce poverty and

gender inequality, as well as to promote sustainable development."'1 The United

Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) underpins this statement with a number of

arguments:

'Although urban concentration increases the visibility and political volatil-

15 UNFPA (2007), p. 46.

16 UNFPA (2007), p. 67.

ity of poverty, it has definite advantages over dispersion. These advantages

are economic, social and environmental as well as demographic.

Economic competition is increasingly globalized; cities are better able to

take advantage of globalization's opportunities and to generate jobs and

income for a larger number of people.

Cities are in a better position to provide education and health care - as well

as other services and amenities - simply because of their advantages of

scale and proximity (...).

Urbanization helps to hold back environmental degradation by offering an

outlet for rural population growth that would otherwise encroach upon

natural habitats and areas of biodiversity (...).

From a demographic standpoint, urbanization accelerates the decline of

fe rtility by facilitating the exercise of reproductive health rights. In urban

areas, new social aspirations, the empowerment of women, changes in

gender relations, the improvement of social conditions, higher-quality re

productive health services and better access to them, all favor rapid fertility

reduction."7

Although urbanization may be a necessity, it still remains an insufficient condi

tion for a sustainable society. The decisive question here is no longer focused on

i f urbanization will continue. Primary questions are aimed at the aspects which

steer and shape the process of urbanization. To elaborate, questions address the

development of cities which attempt to adhere to greater sustainability; they

question how to generate new urban cultures that combine social integration, a

healthy economy and respect for the environment. They also question the kind

of economy to be developed which is no longer based on the exploitation of

nature and/or on social contradictions, and conclusively, to question the direc

tion required in order to adjust the urban society and physical form of the city

for it to become sustainable.

In essence, it remains the responsibility of decision makers, urban planners,

architects and users of the built environment, to question and seek design

principles capable of shaping sustainable cities and regions and conclusively to

generate the conditions to secure the PermaCity.

ABOUT THIS BOOK

This book aims at investigating the conditions and possibilities of urban sus

tainability. To do so, it traverses and undermines boundaries between differ

ent disciplines and stresses interconnections between urban sociology, social

geography, ecology, urban planning, design and management. It is not the aim to develop a consistent argumentation, but to explore the field with different

17 UNFPA (2007), p. 69.

15

approaches, from distinctive standpoints. Authors from different disciplines and

from different parts of the world have been invited to reflect upon the idea of

PermaCity from their respective point o f view. The contributions are clustered

in five sections:

Section I

Changes discusses the present changes in society and social conditions, as well

as their effects on urban form. In a fundamental article Francois Ascher analyses

the process of metropolization under the conditions of the Third Modernity.

He comes to the conclusion that environmental issues will not revolutionize

the form of the city, but will change the design. 'Technologies do not develop

independently of fundamental social forces.’ David Rusk reflects on the USA as a

multicultural - global - society and thus as a model for future societies. Henco

Bekkering discusses the origins of the concept of historical continuity in urban

design and the role o f ‘meaning’ within this framework. Edward Hulsbergen and

Cecilia Marengo analyze in different articles the problems of deprivation, social

inequity and vulnerability, both in the case of Dutch cities and in the case of

Cordoba, Argentina. Finally, Hui Xiaoxi demonstrates how the decline of public

housing in Beijing amplifies the social problems in the city.

Section II

Concepts introduces different (historical and contemporary) concepts and mod

els for urban development and transformation. On the case of the Randstad

Holland, Han Meyer reflects on the shift from urban to regional planning and

the role of the city in this process. Wu Liangyong analyzes the pattern of tradi

tional town development in the Yangtze River Delta in China. Liane Lefaivre and

Alexander Tzonis introduce Lewis Mumford with his (failing) plan for Honolulu

as the first critical regionalist in urban planning. Johannes Widodo presents

the Southeast Asian coastal cities with their ancient trade tradition and their

varied cultural influences as examples for permacultural societies. Frank van der

Hoeven, Gerhard Bruyns, Remon Rooij and Jeroen van Schaik focuses on the

question of mobility and the model of the network city. Qu Lei presents sustain

able urban models for the development of Beijing and Mohammadreza Parvizi

shows how ancient water systems (so-called qanats) are structuring historical

settlements in Iran.

Section III

Strategies presents different strategies, approaches and methods of urban plan

ning and design in view of sustainability. Joaquin Sabate and Manuel Tironi

criticize the competition oriented urban ranking systems as guidance for urban

transformations and are emphasizing the necessity of community building in the

spirit o f Permaculture. Paola Vigano elaborates on the concept of porosity and

permeability as urban design approach in order to reflect on sustainability. De

clan Kennedy and Kathleen Battge present the basic principles of permacultural

thinking and expand them for urban issues. Akkelies van Nes and Sheng Qiang

both apply the Space Syntax Method to analyze movements, urban compactness

and centralities. Chiang Chesheng and Steffen Nijhuis present different methods

to analyze spatial qualities.

Section IV

Governance focuses on the political conditions of planning, its actors and partici

pants. In this framework both government responsibility and civic engagement

are discussed. Saskia Sassen explores how to use the 'power of power’ to face

environmental challenges. Both, the concentrated command structures of global

capital and the decentralized power on a city scale are addressed as possible

carriers for environmental sound projects. On the case of Rome Maurizio Mar-

celloni discusses how to govern the scale of the temporary city. Miquel Marti

Casanovas analyzes local policies to improve the quality of public space. Stephen

Read discusses the understanding of local places in a global world. The local

dimension also receives a platform in the contributions from others authors in

this section. Camilo Pinilla focuses on the role of emergence in urban interven

tion, Roberto Rocco models the geography of economic activities and Diego

Sepulveda explores the conditions of sustainability in middle-sized Latin-Ameri-

can cities. Paul Stouten completes the section with an article about policies for

urban renewal and regeneration in The Netherlands.

Section V

Debate covers three different issues. Bernardo Secchi and Marcial Echenique both

discuss, from different points of view, the pro’s and contra's of a concentrated

versus a dispersed urbanization. As the second issue two (utopian) models for

sustainable local communities are presented: The Mosuo culture in the west

of China as resurrection of the fairy-tale Shangri-La (Wang Chiuyuan) and the

Fontana housing and leisure estate in the outskirts of Vienna as an example how

upper-class people realize their dream of a sustainable living environment (Peter

Johannes Gorgl and Markus Vogl). The three last articles in this section address

the conditions of urban sustainability in Indonesia. Jo Santoso brings to light

the changing conditions of sustainability in the development of Greater Jakarta.

Devisari Tunas analyzes the spatial conditions of informal economies in Jakarta’s

kampongs and, last but not least, Sandi A. Siregar presents the kampong culture

as a generator for the development of a sustainable city.

16

Observe & interact«Beauty is the eye of the beholder» Catch b store energy

«Make hay while the sun shines»

«Vision is not seeing things as

they are but as they will be»

Use edges and value the marginal«Dont think you are on the right track just because it is a well-beaten path»

«You can't work on an empty stomach»

Rebuild natural capital

«Don't put all your eggs in one basket»

o o«The signs of the fathe are visited on the children into the sever generation))

Redistribute surplus. Set limits to consumption and reproduction

Use small and slow solutions(The bigger they are, the

'harder they fall»«Slow and steady wins the

O O0o0

o v_JoIntegrate rather than segregate

«A stitch in time saves nine» «Waste not, Want not»

«Many hands make light work» Design from patterns to details«Cant see the wood for the trees»

172

STRATEGIES

20 DECLAN KENNEDY / KATHLEEN BATTKE

PROF. DECLAN KENNEDY, DIPL.ING., DIP.PERM.DES., ABD (PITT.), /M.R.I.A.I.(HON.)

KATHLEEN BATTKE, /M.A., POSTGRAD. DIP. (GAIA UNIVERSITY)

ECO-VILLAGE LEBENSGARTEN STEYERBERG

Healing the City - Thoughts on Urban Permaculture Design

W hat does ecology mean in urban design and planning? Where does a 'PermaCity' come in to the picture? Indeed, what does Permaculture mean

w ith in the con text o f 'urban design’?

A PermaCity or a designed eco-city w ith as many permanent cycles as possible

would use less natural resources (energy, water, food, etc.) and produce less

waste (heat, air pollution, water pollution, sewage, etc.) than a conventional

city. The terms "PermaCity" and "eco-city" are -as the term "sustainable city’’-

relative. It is difficult to term one city as objectively sustainable and the other as

not. But if we see it as a development process going on (that never ends!), or a

spiral movement upwards, these terms can indeed be helpful to mark tendencies.

A city can, however, become more sustainable by taking certain actions. As the

PermaCity idea applies to buildings, housing and other components of a city,

some of the most obvious measures are:

Planting fruit, vegetables and other productive plants on roofs, facades,

and in open spaces

developing and putting emphasis on public transport

cleaning and recycling surface water discharge

saving fossil fuels - CCP discharge

producing and using predominantly solar energy

creating green corridors which flush dense urban areas with fresh air

setting up healthy buildings - aiming at Corn-Post Modern Architecture.

Many experiments to implement Permaculture principles into urban settings

are happening all over Europe since the 1970's - but all too few. We are not

catching up with our environmental degradation in cities -quite the contrary.

However, most of the successful experiments are ‘bottom-up’ initiatives, often

based on technical principles- but still they are not always economically and

socially sustainable.

As yet, few Permaculture groups have gotten together and managed to get sus

tainable urban projects going. However, there are some beautiful examples that

can give us hope for an otherwise often pessimistic situation.

Such examples occur in free spaces in cities, such as

unused areas

demolished or unused building complexes

in-between areas.

These areas are often used by citizen initiatives for temporary experiments, city

farms, instant parks, wildlife corridors, etc.

In the 1970’s, after the first oil crisis, many experimental projects were started,

got a lot of publicity and then faded into oblivion. Later, in the 8o’s and the

90's, the self-administered, self-help housing projects were prevalent and these

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last to the present day - some even aiming at accommodating all generations.

The food and energy self-sufficiency examples in Amsterdam and Berlin, Dublin

and Hamburg, London and Melbourne, Seattle and Singapore, for instance, were

seen as utopian but had a high educational and emotional component, especially

for inner-city children, senior and immigrant citizens who are not always as

mobile as the mainstream population.

The general lack of financial resources, due to the overall prevalent demand for

high interest rates on hoarded monies, often create new slums out of old and

even 1960-70's housing areas. These were and are the targets for squatting by

peripheral and younger groups who often start new social, economic and techni

cal innovations. The complementary currency movement has originated partly

from these situations, from run-down rural and urban regions - but also from

Permaculture designers realising that their projects ‘do not always pay’. Here,

again, we see a great potential for normal citizens to empower themselves, to

pull themselves out of the often appalling environments and to allow a more or

less permanent solution for urban dwellers. Cities will always be with us, and the

more Perma-cities we create the better.

And we can do it !

SETTLEMENT PATTERNS

Many food and cosmetic producers, regions and hotels use the label BIO nowa

days. The word "ecology” is in every mouth - even conservative politicians tend

to picture themselves as ecologists. Great! We are getting places. After all, the

word "conservative" comes from the verb "to con-serve" - to serve with. Again,

conserving can be seen as positive action. There is, however, little or no con

sensus among planners and designers - nor even among Permaculture designers

- as to what exactly we are talking about when we speak of bio, ecology, or

Permaculture. Slowly, in the mid-8o’s the Permaculture movement began to talk

about ethics - after ten years of action. Others began listing mini and maxi solu

tions. We began to see the value in Christopher Alexander's work on Patterns

and how these could be brought together into relationship that meant that we

did not have to invent the wheel each time we had an ecological project.

I will use the three ethics of Permaculture, as defined in the First International

Permaculture Convergence 1982 in Australia, now taken over as the ethics of

Gaia University in 2006, to give a base for our discussion:

Care for the People

Care for the Earth

Share the Surplus.

What is necessary for me then is a vision of a PermaCity:

a city of proximity, mostly pedestrian with good public transport

a city o f energy descent with food producing gardens

a city as a sharing of cultural, social and economic values.

We will need transition periods with low energy cars, w ith regional farmers’

markets, with local exchange and trading systems (LETS) and regional comple

mentary currencies for as much as a half-century to get to these goals - but

these are some of the next achievable steps. We have to start somewhere! And

we w ill do it!

We can build highly efficient houses that save energy, that need no heating

in cold climates, no electric cooling in the tropics. People, like us, have been

building these in eco-villages, urban eco-neighbourhoods and on the periphery

of cities - already since before the turn of the 21" century. Unlike us, who

have had our respective workspaces at home for the last 20 years or more,

most people have to travel 15 to 60 kilometres to get to work. Their personal

ecological footprints have, therefore, become huge. It is just simply transferring

the pollution from the chimney to the exhaustpipe. This is not a permanent

solution for the resource and climate crisis that is increasing daily. Centralization

has failed in almost every field.

Now, in some countries, particularly in Germany where we both live, the tax

collectors and the politicians are supporting sustainable behaviour - the pro

gramme for 100 000 Photovoltaic roofs, for instance, or the tax and price

rebates for renewable energy production and zero energy building - but once

again without designing the system itself anew, w ithout the holistic approach

that e.g. Permaculture design could deliver.

Eco-villages and urban eco-neighbourhoods are a good start but also need to

look at their energy balance sheet. And they do not often do that regularly. Even

if they are employing new solar systems, recycling wastes and houses, saving

petrol and other energy, saving water, etc., their location and the corresponding

necessity to travel by car usually puts a big hole in their otherwise welcomed

endeavours. Here, I would like to mention the Dutch eco-village in Culembourg as a role model: They have pulled down car use (and ownership) by locating the

eco-village immediately next to the train station on the line between Utrecht

and Eindhoven.

TAKE ACCOUNTING INTO ACCOUNT AS PART OF DESIGN

Accounting is part of Design - Sim van der Rym suggested this back in the early

1980’s:

• Exploring the Carbon Footprint o f our Homes and Mobility

• Setting up Energy Audits & Ratings

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• Implementing Energy Efficiency Er Renewable Energy Systems

• Future Testing of our Homes and Vehicles.

We all know the concept of the ‘ecological rucksack', put forward by Friedrich

Schmidt-Bleek of the Wuppertal Institute and others in the 1990's. It measures

streams of material to determine the hidden energies in every product and serv

ice in MIPS (Material Input per Portion Service). In urban and rural settlement

patterns - and especially in the many suburban developments all over the world

- little of this measuring concept has happened for determining the efficiency

of e.g. infrastructure, public transport and the amount of land used-up by this

settlement pattern.

For each German, there is presently approximately 40 square metres built for

their housing, but 600 square metres of paved area. Housing areas on the pe

riphery of cities (suburbs) use up land wastefully. This is only possible because of

subsidies on food production (even bio-food) - dis-encouraging people to pro

duce their own herbs and vegetables near their homes. Because of the general

globalisation trends to produce cheaper and produce elsewhere than at home,

we are continually using up good farming land in order to create the sterile rose-

and-lawn syndrome, or 'industrial Parks’ or production facilities, resulting more

than often in urban sprawl.

We are our own problem. Most o f us want to live individually in a green healthy

environment in or near an urban setting: ‘The main shopping street at the front

door and wide open refreshing landscape at the back door, please.’ This is usu

ally easier for the politicians to sell to the population than a global ecological

approach, based on energy descent and cost-benefit analysis for all humankind

- because of its tiring watchfulness and regulations that seem to be necessary.

TOWARDS A MORE HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT OF SETTLEMENTS

Here we can look at a further development of the MIPS system as Holger Wall-

baum did in his dissertation, amalgamating the five relevant themes of field of:

Total Material Requirement (TMR)

Cumulative Energy Expenditure (CEE)

Global Warming Potential (GWP 100)

Land Area Consumption

Water Consumption.

These ecological indicators are put side by side with the five economic indicators:

Planning and Implementation costs

Production and Building costs

Maintenance costs

Demolition costs

Costs of Rent including all Heating and Lighting costs.

Then, we add the final five that are social indicators:

the Age Structure

the Structure of Earnings

the Unemployment Rate

the Proportion of Employed Females per 100 employed males

the Degree of Participation.

Wallbaum went one step further and used the COMPASS method to determine

the value of a designed settlement, taking the ecological settlement of Flin-

tenbreite in Liibeck, Northern Germany as his analytic example. This is a highly

scientific method that can help designers during the concept period of a design

as well as checking mechanism after implementation and later after a few years

of people living there. Now Assistant Professor for Sustainable Construction,

he is addressing conceptual, technological and at the same time sustainable

innovations in the building industry. The regionally varying economic, legal,

ecological, cultural and aesthetic frame conditions require constant rethinking

and adaptation to apply sound approaches for specific uses and users. Integrity

and adjustment are the dictums that have to be considered by sustainability-

oriented planners, users and operators in order to realize sustainable reconstruc

tion in cities.

COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT

A few of us in the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) put together an approach

- more like a yardstick - for self-assessing how ecological we are in our very

different eco-villages all over the world. The CSA (Community Sustainability As

sessment) on the GEN web site: www.ecovillage.org is based on the indicators:

Social/Community

Ecological/Technical

Cultura l/Spiritual.

With the aim of creating and presenting to the world outstanding examples

of what it means to live in harmony with nature in a sustainable way, GEN

promotes and facilitates communities - whether rural or urban - which develop

and implement technologies and practices such that human activities are harm

lessly integrated into the natural world. This integration is meant to take place

in a way that is supportive of healthy human development and can be success

fully continued into the indefinite future.

The Global Ecovillage Network is developing the concept of sustainability auditing

to provide measuring rods for individuals, as are also the groups working in the

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Global Action Plan. For existing villages and communities, they also compare the

current status with ideal goals for ecological, social, and cultural sustainability.

Such tools are to be seen as learning instruments - pointing out actions how in

dividuals, businesses, communities and cities can take to become more sustain

able by changing their daily behaviour. The process of Community Sustainability

Assessment is an exploration and cultivation of the qualities needed to bring

mankind through the 21“ century.

Community Sustainability Assessment is a comprehensive checklist and anyone

can complete it to get a basic idea of how sustainable his or her community is.

This assessment tool is applicable to any community or neighbourhood. While

it requires good knowledge of the life-styles, practices and features of a com

munity, it does not require research, calculation and detailed quantification.

This assessment takes about three hours for an individual to complete, or a

series of sessions if done as a group experience by community or neighbourhood

members.

And we are doing it!

HOLMGREN'S PERMACULTURE PRINCIPLES IN URBAN SETTINGS

David Holmgren, Co-Founder with Bill Mollison of the Permaculture Concept,

has given us an easy access to the complex permacultural thinking by explaining

the basic insights in twelve principles. We will expand these principles for urban

1. Observe and Interact 9

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”

§ Observe, Recognize and Appreciate Details

§ Interact with Care, Creativity and Efficiency

§ The Thinking and Design Revolution

I. A ll observations are relative

II. Top-down th ink ing, bottom-up action

III. The urban fa b ric is the textbook

IV. Failure is useful so long as we tearn

V. Elegant solutions are simple, even invisible

VI. Make the smallest in te rvention necessary

VII. Avoid too much o f a good thing

VIII. The problem is the solution

IX. Break ou t o f urban design cul-de-sacs

§ Free up Design Education and Communications Media

§ Scepticism and the Limitations of Direct Experiences

§ Modern Context for Action Learning

§ The Importance of Interaction

Here I make an appeal to humanity in stating - that: We need a vision, because

global problems cannot be solved by market mechanisms alone. I see the way

ahead in the thousands of small, smart decisions that reflect a new awareness

shared by millions of people and help ensure the survival o f society. The vision

and strategy of an ecological urban design has the advantage o f not only being

feasible, but also corresponding to the vision many people share of a world in

which they would like to live. Making the vision a reality only requires the will

to take a calculable risk and shed old prejudices and patterns of behaviour. In

view of the problems bombarding us from all sides, this can only be seen as a

hopeful perspective. -

(i2 . Catch and Store Energy

"Make hay while the sun shines"

• Urban Energy Characteristics

• Re-building of the Natural Capital in the City

I. Appropriate Use of Renewable Resources

II. Urban Fabric as Energy Storage - How Buildings can catch and store

Solar Energy

III. Photosynthesis & Respiration

IV. Water Storage in Cities - Plumbing: Sewage, Drainage

V. Soil & Organic Matter

• Nutrient & Carbon storage in the City

Present energy-saving options and the rational use of energy for heating pur

poses, and of electricity and transport can cut energy consumption to less than

30% of its current level. In an energy-efficient city, energy is primarily generated

on a renewable basis through sun, wind, tides, geo-thermal energy and organic

mass. Buildings are designed for optimum passive solar use, both cooling and

heating. Intelligent designs achieve a maximum annual consumption rate of

10-kilowatt hours per square metre of living space, which is amply covered by

regenerative energies.

f -3.0btain a Yield in the City

"You can’t work on an empty stomach”

§ Models from Nature and History

§ Conserver instead of consumer values

§ Positive Feedback - Solutions to the Problems of Success

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§ Timing and Flexibility

§ Efficient Use of Open Urban Spaces as a Resource

§ Accounting of embodied energy

Special care is placed on the selection of plant types, sizes and growth times.

Thus, a c ity o f predom inantly native species and productive plants contains fruit-bear

ing bushes and trees, gardens, lean-to greenhouses, fagade espaliers and herba

ceous soil coverings that meet a good proportion of the settlement’s needs for

fresh fruit, vegetables and salad all year round, w ithout much extra effort. The

natural corridors, streams, ponds and wetland marshes also produce edible and

medicinal plants for human and animal consumption. These products are fresher

and cost less in terms of embodied energy, waste and money than imports that

have travelled great distances, although these will be used to ensure added

variety at the table. The sales of commercial products and exchanges of "surplus

production" create permanent jobs and provide high quality products at reason

able costs for everyone.

4. A pp ly Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback

"The sins of the fathers are visited on the children unto the seventh genera

tion"

§ Nurturing Positive Feedback and Self-Regulation in Managed Urban Sys

tems

§ Top-Down and Bottom-up Strategies for Social Change

§ Personal Responsibility & Self-Audit

§ Self-Reliance and Disaster Preparedness

§ Self-Reliance as Political Action

Conflicts are seen and dealt w ith as creative learning processes in a

city o f c re a tive c o n flic t-s o lv in g . Re-Using together instead o f consuming individually, sharing jobs, cars, fruit-trees, playgrounds, buildings and

open spaces fo r play, sport, leisure and communication also means go

ing through learning processes together, leading a richer life, but also

a more d ifficu lt one as well. Self-regulation is predominant, as people

give and receive positive feedback. Design ‘failures and mistakes’ are

seen as opportunities. U ltim ately we would have a c i ty based on o ccu p a n t

re s p o n s ib ility

5. Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services

“ Let nature take its course"

§ Renewable Resources as Energy

§ Investment of Non-Renewables - Ecosystem Services

§ Trees: Urban Solar Power Plants

§ Sustainable Use of Renewable Resources

This principle covers many topics. We will take water as an example, as it is

the topic that we need most to deal with both on a local and global level.

On-site rainwater seepage and the blanket ban on toxic substances entering

the groundwater allow a c ity th a t values recycling to have its own decentralized

drinking-water supply. Water-saving fixtures and the separation of faeces and

all other organic waste for composting and fermentation cut drinking-water

consumption to less than 60 litres per person per day. Grey-water from wash

basins and baths, showers, washing machines and dishwashers is purified in

nature-based neighbourhood treatment processes, and then seeps back into the

groundwater. Therefore, each city district preserves natural drainage conditions.

This means that wherever possible, storage rooms at ground level replace base

ments. Vertical and horizontal filters become just as much an integral compo

nent of open spaces in the form of constructed wetland marches, as rainwater,

which is creatively allowed to come to the fore in flow forms, open gutters,

streams and ponds.

6. Produce No Waste

"A stitch in time saves nine”

§ Waste or Exchange in cities

§ Waste Minimisation

§ Waste as Resource

§ Industrial Strategies - Zero Emissions Research & Initiatives (ZERI)

Governed by the principle that “every waste is a resource in the wrong place", a waste-free c ity belongs to a regional, national and international network specially

devoted to this aspect of sustainable husbandry, which helps to prevent over

95 percent of the current volume of waste. The aim is zero waste cycles. Be it

domestic waste, excavation soil, building materials or waste from commercial

or industrial production, the little waste (still produced here) is sorted on-site,

before entering the respective recycling, down-cycling or re-use process. An

emission-free settlem ent reduces energy consumption, treating wastewater in

nature-based systems, limiting traffic and tree-lining streets, all these emission-

free measures lower CO1, S020, N0X and other toxic gases, as well as reducing

dust particles. Sod roofs and facades covered in climbers, as well as natural cor

ridors between individual neighbourhoods, improve the air and temper climate extremes. Ultimately we would have an emission-free city.

177

7. Design from Patterns to Details

"You can't see the wood for the trees”

§ Pattern Thinking and Language

§ Structural Patterns in Cities and Urban Sprawl

§ Land Evaluation and holistic Mapping

§ Land-care and Redesigning Urban Areas

§ Permaculture Urban Patterns

§ Permaculture Urban Design - Zones and Sectors

§ Bioregional Patterns & Aesthetics

We strive fo r a c ity on a human scale, with neighbourhoods to which residents

can develop a direct relationship or a personal bond, but which have their own

character as well. A city with nature corridors has woods, orchards, streams

or wetland marches separating the individual areas and linking them to the

surrounding landscape. A place where plants and animals have scope to thrive

becomes part and parcel o f our civilisation. A city that f i t s into its own bio-region,

its landscape, its climate, celebrates its flora and fauna and its local culture.

Open spaces and bodies of water typical of the area provide biological enrich

ment and orientation. A c ity o f healthy buildings where building materials and

construction systems (used in all buildings that are converted or constructed)

are healthy, save primary energy and go easy on resources in their production,

use and dismantling (from cradle to cradle). They are (re)-planned for multi-pur

pose use, easy conversion and expansion or reduction in size. Urban electrical

cables and appliances are installed underground and connected in accordance

with the latest findings to generate as little electric smog as possible. Before

design commences, zones of geo-pathological interference are detected so that

unnecessary health problems on top of them can be avoided.

8. Integrate Rather than Segregate

"Many hands make light work"

§ integration in Urban Design

§ Types of Ecological Relationships

§ Each Element performs Many Functions

§ Each Function is supported by many Elements

§ Competition and Co-operation in Cities Districts

§ Corporate Culture and Ecology

§ Materialism and Spirituality working together

§ Rebuilding Community — Chaordic Organisation

Settlements and cities can be seen as collective artworks, as cities o f human

values. The individual and collective effort of many generations lends them a

special, unmistakable character. Nowadays it is possible to simulate this histori

cal development and make various alternatives (of building anew or renewing

existing quarters) understandable to all, quickly. Thus, the complex process of

coming to a consensus between the demands and needs of the occupants, the

administrative authorities, the economy and the environment can be worked out

easier until a plan has emerged that is tailored to the combined needs of those

involved. The balanced, careful and conscious combination of chaos and order

(chaordic) is abour to prove as the best strategy for the organic development

of such new structures. It takes time to make this shared vision a reality, but it

forms the basis of the city's spiritual, intellectual and material expression.

9. Use Small and Slow Solutions

"Slow and steady wins the race"

§ Energetic Limitations on size of Urban Areas

§ Cellular Design and Scale

§ Slow is Sane - Italy’s CittaSlow Movement

§ Reduce Urban Scale and Speed

§ Ethical Constraints on Size

§ Slow-Crowth Strategies for Food

§ From Hierarchical Design to Nodes and Networks

The density for a c ity o f short distances requires an ecological settlement not

much larger than 1.5 - 2 km in diameter, meaning that everyone can walk from

one end to the other in half an hour, or bike or drive their solar-vehicles across

in five minutes. Cities should be kept small or broken up into oversee-able

neighbourhoods. Car-and minibus-sharing is available to the district community

members for all medium distances. Public means of transport - buses and trains — are faster and cheaper alternatives for longer journeys. Efficient infrastructure

planning is facilitated by service centres specialising in different aspects and

located at public transport pick-up points.

10. Use and Value D iversity

“ Don’t put all your eggs in one basket"

§ Biodiversity and the City

§ Balancing Productivity and Diversity

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§ Diversity creates Stability

§ Cultural Globalisation and Renewal of the Culture of Place

§ Geographic Diversity following Culture

§ Rebuilding Community in Cities through Diversity

§ Economic and Social Diversity

A c ity o f d iversity, a DiverCity, is where the living spaces and the working spaces

are reconciled and long trips to work are unnecessary; where social and cul

tural activities, recreation and further training, community and individuality

can exist side by side. By limiting traffic and noise pollution from production

processes, th is beautifu l c ity is a place of calm and quiet as well as festival and

entertainment. The architectural expression and urban design follows criteria of

beauty, elegance and simplicity, fitting into the existing landscape and cultural

heritage of the region.

§ Lessons from Urban Design and Land Management

§ Ecological Urban Design and Sustainability

§ Economic and Social Succession

There is nothing so permanent as change. All occupants are involved to the

extent they can and wish to be in local, community self-administration, and in

formulating and implementing the ecological settlement design in a c ity based on

occupant responsib ility. All decisions are made on the lowest level possible, based

on the principle of subsidiarity. As far as possible, everyone uses the local range

of services, production and trade, education, and leisure, and supports links and

communication with regional, national and international groups and networks.

We can master four perspectives: how things were, how things are, how things

might become and how things ought to be - and synthesizing them into a

compelling concept of a constructive, peaceful urban future.

11. Use Edges and Value the Marginal

"Don't think you are on the right track just because it is a well-beaten track"

§ Edge as a Systemic Property

§ Edge Effect in Urban Agglomerations

§ Use of Edge in Urban Design according to the topography

§ Water Edges - River or Lake or Sea - are design elements

§ Effects of Intensity of Use

§ Value of Marginal Systems

The size and density of the settlement defines a c ity th a t uses as l i t t le space as

possible. This depends on the degree to which the area the city requires for its

material supply and disposal - on what is really available, without being a bur

den on the region and the prevalent cultural norms. Expansion beyond this size

leads to the founding of a city or a new settlement. The grid pattern had its

origin in military thinking, a democratic chaordic society needs flow both in its

structure and in its forms. The interface of edges between different elements

produces diversity, stability and places of high interest.

12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change

"Vision is not seeing things as they are but as they will be"

§ Systemic Perspective of Change - Ecosynthesis

§ Flexibility and Gender Balance

§ Ecological Models o f Succession in Cities

All these principles have been taken or adapted from David Holmgren (Co-Originator

of the Permaculture Concept): Permaculture - Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustain

ability, Hepburn, Vic., Australia, 2002 — see www.holmgren.com.au

PERMACULTURE AND ACTION LEARNING WILL HELP US BREAK THROUGH

The future is here, and it is not what we had imagined: 80% or more of the

world's population live in urban areas. As designers for sustainable systems, as

Permaculture practitioners, we cannot just ignore them and go on creating and

living in our green oasis. We have to overcome this postulate that was so often

mentioned in the 1980's and 90’s: - ‘do your own thing and forget about these

(supposedly) non-thinking, greedy urbanites’. The urban fabric is a reality, is a

manifestation of a system that we have enjoyed at the cost of nature and based

on continual support we have been getting from less economically fortunate

'developing' countries. It is basically a system that is continually depleting itself

and the resources of the earth, sustenance being mainly shipped into urban

areas from outside,

The urgency of responding to climate change and energy security will require

new directions in design. Much of the necessary changes will enable us to see an

overall improvement in quality of life i f we embrace Permaculture methodologies

and goals. All stakeholders have a role to play, and urban designers will need a

new set of strategies and skills to do so. Action Learning and urban Permaculture

design can help us break through. The urban Permaculture groups will present

the issues, outline some of the priorities for change, and introduce tools for

effective engagement in building a more sustainable future. We also need urban

thinking by permacultural planners, policy makers, politicians and citizens.

We still have a lot to do and a lot to learn. So that is why I am still working

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on the concept of helping ‘doers' to reflect on their doing and to learn from it

while they are doing it - the concept of action learning, that was defined by

the Englishman Reg Revans in the early 1960’s. We are now bringing it again

into the world of life-long learning through Gaia University in co-operation

with Revans University. If you want to know more about this "complementary

university” visit the web site: www.gaiauniversity.org

HEALING IS POSSIBLE - MY CONCLUSIONS

Throughout my life - or at least the last third of it, since I met up with Per-

maculture - I have been involved in many dialogues attempting to shape the

ideas of new generations and to provide accessibility to the pool of vast human

resources capable of healing a "deeply wounded world." Now retired and living

in the ecovillage of Lebensgarten Steyerberg with my wife, Margrit, what do I see

as the challenge of the 21st century?

For global consciousness to develop, which is one of today’s biggest challenges,

reflection on actions, action learning and creative imagination are critical. We

can find these aspects at Gaia University. Unfortunately, people tend to avoid

facing up to the situations confronting them, and in today's world there are

many means of disassociating ourselves from reality. Additionally, media distort

the world situation - and mirrors convey to us false images of ourselves and of

each other.

In the end, I think the operative word is "health”, in the sense of becoming

whole - at the individual level over the course of a lifetime, in the groups with

non-violent communication and, globally, through the concerted practice of

mediation in all conflict situations on whatever scale. I call my approach "urban

healing” , preventive medicine for an imperilled planet, homeopathic in nature

- and urge us to look past the symptoms in order to identify the root causes of

the world’s malaise.

I do believe in magic, but no outside agency and no degree of wishful thinking

can relieve us of our personal and collective responsibilities. As I see it, the

future of humankind depends on us and us alone. At an age of over 70, I am

convinced that to heal, we must move beyond the power games in which the

‘enemy’, so often our scapegoat, must be destroyed at all costs. Instead, we

must come to terms with the fact that tension is inherent to every relationship.

It is up to each of us to learn to accept, manage, and transform tension. See it as

a learning curve. ‘ If we don’t break through, we will break down’. History bears

sober witness to the accuracy of this observation.

This timely and thought-provoking PermaCity idea, being illuminated from all

sides in the conference from which this book is a result, can be the answer - but

needs to explore how we can save energy, resources and money by making our

homes, our transport systems and our food production more energy efficient,

more beautiful and more human. This is the way we need to develop our de

sign abilities and use that potential to create urban ecology - the PermaCity,

urban-ecovillages, neighbourhoods and districts - indeed, an urban Permacul-

ture, which supports the dignity of all people and the vulnerability of natural

systems, and which gives every sentient being their fair share. In the words of

the Swiss/Englishman Sir Martin Brofman: "Anything can be healed".

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BROFMAN, M .,2003. Anything can be healed. Forres, Scotland: Findhorn Press, w ww.

healer.ch

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together.org/

REED, J., 2001. The Next Evolution, A blueprint fo r transforming the planet.

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WALSCH, N. D., 2006. What God Wants, A compelling answer to humanity’s biggest questions. London: Hodder and Stoughton, www.cwg.org

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Designed and printed in Barcelona, 2007.

Graphic design by / / ' / / ' / / / .CW Cf//«/y .< :/